Remedies and Memories
by IndigoChild21
Summary: Taking place after the first chapter of Naruto Gaiden, the story follows Sakura as a single mother and Sarada as she struggles without her father. This is a mini-story I have been working on and each new chapter will be published to my tumblr account moojimooji before it gets uploaded here. (In Progress)
1. Chapter 1

_.1._

Her muscles ached and her head was sore, and her eye were dry as sand. These were symptoms she had become accustomed to over the past few years. Sakura listened to the machines beep and clink as she slowly opened her eyes from where she lay on the hospital bed. The events from earlier came to the forefront of her memory and she slammed her fists against the mattress.

"Easy there"

Sakura looked over to the chair by the window and noticed Kakashi with an open book in his lap. A fresh daisy had been plucked from the garden outside and set on the table next to her, with the dirt still clumped at its roots.

"Hey" She trailed off.

"I see you punched a hole through your house." He commented lightly, with his masked face turned towards the open window. "Have you already paid off the loan?"

She let out a heavy sigh. "Sometimes I regret ever telling you, Kakashi-sensei. And no, with Sarada's Academy classes lately, I haven't been able to go on any missions."

"That's Rokudaime to you," he said with a small smile. "So what made you think that was a good idea?"

"She's asking questions Kakashi. She's so smart, just like him. She knows our relationship is odd, she sees how the other children interact with their families. But now she won't even believe that we're married" Bitterness rose unwanted. "She's asking me questions about him that I can't answer, because he never told me. My own child doesn't believe in me."

"I'm trying to hold the honor and pride of the Uchiha family together while he's gone, but I'm so overreached that I can barely hold myself together, let alone a family."

"You're strong Sakura. Are you still doing the healing treatments every night?" he asked.

Her head fell to her chest and he noticed how dull her hair had become and how pale and sallow her skin looked as she brushed her bangs from her face.

"Every night when she goes to sleep. The sessions last about half an hour."

"It looks like it's killing you." He stood up and walked closer to her to get a better look.

"If I don't, it's going to kill her." She said with an empty voice.

"We don't know for sure. Right?" He ruffled her hair and softened his tone. "I'll go find Sarada-chan and see if she'd like to train with me today."

A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Thanks Kakashi"

And once again she drifted off into nightmares.


	2. Chapter 2

_.2._

Sarada sat heavily on the end of the upturned sofa, as she looked at the photo of her father and a mysterious red haired woman. Why did her father have a picture of this woman, but no picture together with her mother? Frustration and disappointment welled in her chest.

"I hate you." She mumbled at the man under her breath, while a lone tear escaped down her cheek.

Her parents were legends. People told her stories of the Great Fourth Shinobi World War, and their Godlike powers. Sakura Haruno, the woman who had surpassed the Fifth Hokage in strength and medical ability and Sasuke Uchiha who held the power of life and death with his Sharingan and Rinnegan.

Compared to them, Sarada was a disgrace.

Her mother had a fierce strength that could demolish a large town. Sarada often witnessed it when she got angry with her. She wanted them to be as far away from others as possible when they trained, so every evening she and Sakura would go out past the training fields and into the forest. There Sarada would warm up with genjutsu practice, and then learn a new ninjutsu. She was booksmart and memorizing came easily, but this wasn't where she had trouble.

After a short break, they would move on to taijutsu. Sakura would go through a series of punches and kicks with her, and then end the practice with some pushups and a jog. That was the practice in theory. Sarada was quick to learn that after the shortest of exercises her breathing would weaken and her body would tremble. If she tried to push herself just a little harder, everything would go black.

Sarada had trust in her mother. She was a doctor after all, and she ran most of the hospital. So when she said that the fainting spells were nothing harmful and that they were going to be a part of her life, Sarada couldn't help but feel depressed. She was already half blind.

_The Mighty and Honorable Uchihas. _She thought with bitter resentment. _There is no way I am the daughter of such legends. _

Again her eyes drifted to the women with red hair. It seemed much more likely that an average woman had given birth to such an embarrassment.

When she decided she had wallowed in enough self-pity, she got up and gathered the rest of their precious things. The photo went back into the frame, where it had been before. All of their memories fit in a single duffle bag, and she let out a heavy sigh. The rest she could come back for later. She wiped her sleeve across her cheeks one more time and made her way out to the street.

She heard an ugly crunch and looked down. She stepped on what must have been the front door. The dusty red and white Uchiha symbol had a deep and jagged crack down the middle. Dark satisfaction came when she realized that's how it should always look. Broken, just like her family.

Where would she stay tonight? Her mother never asked for help, not from anyone. Sarada didn't think she wanted to go around bothering people either. Regret blossomed pink on her cheeks.

She had been too harsh with her mother. She hadn't meant to make her angry or sick. She just wanted answers.

She rounded the corner and bumped into a standard issue green flak-jacket. Looking up she recognized the mask and the unruly silver hair.

"Hey kiddo."

"Oji-san, I think I made a mistake." She mumbled and she buried her face into his side.

He bent down and looked her in the eyes. They were red and swollen from crying. He ruffled her hair and his eyes creased. A slight shadow of a smile could be seen beneath his mask.

"We all make mistakes" He said, rocking back on his heels. "Sara-chan, why don't you come spend the afternoon with your old feeble uncle? I could use someone to carry my groceries and walk me across the street."

The corners of her mouth turned up, fighting laughter.

"Can we get ice-cream?"


	3. Chapter 3

_.3._

Sarada sat on a bench at the edge of the training fields with Kakashi. She licked her strawberry ice cream slowly, with no intentions of taking her eyes off of the masked man. Her mom told stories of the legendary copy-nin who never revealed his true face. Part of her thought her mother had made it up as absurd bedtime stories. She couldn't picture her fierce and powerful mother having to go to such comical lengths just to get an old man to pull down his mask. After several years of trying to see underneath the thin cloth, Sarada had to give credit where credit was due. The man might have even been born in the thing.

"Oji-san, your ice cream is melting." She smirked as she pretended to look at the field. Gooey pink cream dripped down his gloves and plopped to the ground.

"Well that won't do." His eyes crinkled in a smile. "Say, why don't you train with me a little bit when we're done?"

Sarada was off-put by the sudden change in direction, and a sullen look crossed her face. She didn't want to think about the exams, or what it would be like to be the first Uchiha to fail. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Ahh, well… I usually train with Mom, and with her in the hospital I don't really feel up to it." The guilt from earlier resurfaced and she let out a sigh. "Maybe another time."

When she looked back at him the ice cream was gone, and he was wiping his hands clean with a wet towel. He hummed happily as irritation replaced her melancholy. A vein popped out on her forehead, and she hid a scowl. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he had distracted her on purpose. She had the strong urge to kick him in the shin, old man or not.

"Fine, let's do it." She relented, a bit irked that she missed her chance. He probably had ugly buckteeth anyways. "But just for a little while and then I should get back."

They walked out into the open field and Kakashi pulled a copy of Icha Icha out of his back pocket. He rested the other hand in his side pocket and slouched a bit as he started reading. Sarada had sparred with him on occasion before, and she knew not to be fooled by his appearance. She kept her attention on him as she made a few hand signs and a shadow clone appeared beside her.

She ran at him while her shadow clone jumped around to his backside. In unison they flicked several shiruken towards his head. With luck she would ruin that stupid lewd book. Kakashi batted them away, then moved his head to dodge the blades coming from behind.

Sarada didn't slow when her attack missed. Instead she charged straight through and raised a fist with a mighty shout. "Shannaro!"

Kakashi looked up in surprise to see Sakura's pink hair and fierce emerald eyes. At the last minute he ducked down and sidestepped her. Cursing to himself, he bit the inside of his cheek and looked around sharply only to find an empty clearing. Icha Icha went back in his pocket as he gave the little Uchiha his full attention. Pride swelled in his chest as he realized that she must have cast the genjutsu while they were walking over. Neither of her parents had been able to do that when they were her age.

Sarada smiled to herself as Kakashi scanned the trees, alert and focused. At least she could do this much. With a few more hand seals she was able to launch a fireball from the tree branch behind him. She wasn't optimistic it would hit him but the idea of scorching his fluffy white hair pushed her to try harder.

Just as she thought, he whirled and dropped to the ground easily as the flames passed overhead. By the time he stood up she had relocated to a bush on his right. Sweat rolled down her brow and a wave of exhaustion passed through her. She brushed it aside and launched two kunai at her target, followed by one to his left and one to his right in the hopes that he would try and dodge the first few.

An hour passed. Sarada would attack, Kakashi would dodge, and then the young girl would withdraw again. She was drenched in sweat and shaky as she propped herself against a tree trunk. Frustration welled up again and she punched the tree where she had been resting. Boruto wouldn't be so pathetically weak right now.

Darkness came suddenly and took her, and she slumped to the ground. Kakashi was there in an instant, checking her breathing.

"I'm no Uchiha" she murmured, her head swimming. She thought she was coming around again, but things were never that easy. Darkness called again and she was out for good.

Kakashi picked her up with one arm and tucked her under his chin. One hand was under her knees and the other one instinctively ruffled her hair. He jumped over treetops and buildings, landing at his small house at the edge of town. He laid his princess on the sofa and propped a pillow under her head.

He was so proud of her, of how she tried so hard despite her circumstance. It ripped his heart out that she thought she wasn't good enough. If only he could tell her how amazing she was in comparison. He put a hand to his left eye, the smooth skin still taking him by surprise. The scar was gone, but the pain wasn't.

"One day I'll have to tell you about Obito Uchiha" With a sad smile, the words fell unheard.


End file.
